Key Takeaways
1. Valve’s Steam Machine, Steam Controller, and Steam Frame VR headset aim to revolutionize gaming, with mini PCs entering the market as competitors.
2. The Ayaneo AM01S features an AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, a compact design, and a 4-inch touchscreen display, offering modern capabilities in a retro look.
3. Priced at $699, the Ayaneo AM01S includes flexible storage options, built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, and AyaSpace software for enhanced functionality.
4. Performance benchmarks show strong gaming capabilities, with smooth gameplay in titles like Cyberpunk 2077 and Forza Horizon 5 at 1080p settings.
5. Power consumption ranges from 10 W at idle to 97 W during stress tests, all manageable with the included 120 W power adapter.
Valve recently made a big splash in the tech world by introducing the Steam Machine, paired with the Steam Controller and the Steam Frame VR headset. While there’s not much concrete info about the pricing for the Steam Machine—most details come from speculation by Moore’s Law Is Dead—the exciting part is that various mini PCs are hitting the market with similar sizes and shapes, making them comparable to Valve’s latest offering.
Ayaneo AM01S Overview
YouTube channel ETA Prime has reviewed the Ayaneo AM01S, a mini PC powered by the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. This device features a compact 4-inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 960 × 400. Its design is somewhat retro, yet it boasts modern capabilities.
The video reveals that the device has a flip-up screen that conceals the audio port and four USB 3.2 ports. The back of the unit includes a power connector, two full-size HDMI ports, one USB4 port (40 Gbps), a USB-C 3.2 port, dual 2.5 GbE Ethernet ports, a USB 2.0 port, and an extra USB 3.2 port. Ayaneo provides various APU choices for the AM01S, which you can explore here.
Storage and Pricing
Storage is flexible, featuring one M.2 slot that can hold up to an 8 TB drive, along with an additional 2230 M.2 slot. It also comes with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Priced at $699, Ayaneo’s barebones AM01S with the HX 370 APU presents the most affordable option for those interested in that particular chip. The system comes with Windows 11 and includes AyaSpace, which is Ayaneo’s software for managing power modes, thermal design power (TDP), fan settings, and the secondary display, launching automatically when the system starts.
AyaSpace turns the small screen into a second display, which allows you to move applications to it, adjust brightness, or show information like weather updates or performance metrics. The software also includes a game launcher and enables you to tweak power settings and TDP, which the video tests at a maximum of 65 W.
Performance Insights
The creator shared benchmark results showing a Geekbench 6 single-core score of 2,896 and a multi-core score of 14,915. For context, Notebookcheck lists average scores for the Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 at 2,889 and 14,700. In 3DMark Time Spy, the AM01S scored 3,753 overall, with a graphics score of 3,367 and a CPU score exceeding 10,000.
In gaming tests, Cyberpunk 2077 ran smoothly at 1080p High with FSR Frame Generation, averaging over 80 FPS. Forza Horizon 5 performed even better, exceeding 100 FPS at 1080p Medium without FSR. Meanwhile, Marvel Rivals struggled slightly at 1080p Medium with FSR Balanced, dropping just below 60 FPS during heavy scenes. Borderlands 4 required 1080p Low with frame generation to get close to 60 FPS, but switching to a 900p resolution helped boost averages to over 70 FPS.
Power Consumption
In terms of power consumption, ETA Prime noted approximately 10 W at idle with the secondary screen on, increasing to 72 W during 1080p gaming sessions, and peaking at 97 W during stress tests—all staying within the capacity of the included 120 W power adapter.
The reviewer highlighted that the HX 370 version offers the best GPU performance due to its 16-CU Radeon 890M integrated graphics. They also mentioned that while it’s feasible to install SteamOS 3.8, the current version of the operating system can’t support dual independent displays in Big Picture mode, which would render the small built-in screen inactive.
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